Mark Alexander Hopkins, with the nickname Doctor Bitcoin or Rizzn, stated that OTC Bitcoin transactions would violate federal law after announcing the punishment for their case on social media.
Hopkins expressed they have encountered 6 to 15 months in a federal correctional facility in Texas after being claimed to operate a cryptocurrency firm without the required licenses. According to Rizzn, the US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) utilized the 2019 description of law – 18 U.S.C. 1960 – to charge them with illegally operating a “money transfer business.”
The Bitcoiner states that they were fully registered as Bitcoin sellers with FinCEN, yet the Department of Justice still focused on the engagement in illegal transactions.
FinCEN made a similar allegation against a California inhabitant in April 2019, accusing them of willful violations of money transfer regulations as an OTC exchange of cryptocurrencies and fiat.
However, the defendant encountered only a $35,000 fine, a ban from engaging in similar financial activities, and no jail time.
